Edinburgh Jazz Archive marks 60 years of Capital's scene

AN exhibition celebrating more than 60 years of jazz in Edinburgh has been launched.

The Edinburgh Jazz Archive celebrates a period that has seen the rise of star names, such as clarinet player Al Fairweather and band leader Sandy Brown.

The archive at the Central Library features a range of memorabilia that tracks the jazz scene in the Capital since the 1940s.

Councillor Ron Cairns, vice-convener of the city's culture and leisure committee, launched the archive.

He said: "It's a great honour for our Central Library to become the guardians of such an amazing collection of books, records, CDs, posters, photographs and other memorabilia telling the story of the beginnings of jazz in Edinburgh through several decades.

"The Edinburgh Jazz Archive demonstrates the unique flowering of music that emerged in the city during the 1940s and has continued to this day."

The launch is to coincide with the beginning of the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, an event that has been running for 32 years in the city.

A special part of the archive collection will be dedicated to the Royal High School, which has seen almost 30 performers educated there, reaching both local and international fame.